Birthday #1 of 246 November birthdays

I decided to try and capture what we did on William's actual birthday even though it was a pretty normal day. We woke the boys up before Mikey left for work so he could take part in the early and super low-key festivities. 

I think he's still asleep. 

I am certain that Ryan is still asleep. 

Garbage truck break time! Not much will tear William away from presents, but garbage trucks will do the trick. 

He loved whatever construction vehicle we gave him. But then he said (in a very pitiful voice), "But where is my side loader?" Hmmmm...that gift had been assigned out to Grammy and Grandpa, and I didn't know if it was going to be for Christmas or birthday. I had to do some quick sleuthing.  

Look at those big, handsome guys. 

The happy birthday boy before we left for school. 

They tested out the new stomp rocket after school.  

This toy didn't last long thanks to the boys (knowingly) stepping on the rockets, which crack and then don't work any more. Rascals! And of course they don't sell just the rockets. It's not that the whole set is super expensive. It's just annoying that they have now broken two separate sets of rockets!  

We went to William's favorite restaurant in the whole world - Backyard Grill. And what's that in the package? Could it be? 

It is the beloved side-loader! Grammy acted fast after I told her he was desperate for one. She had picked one out for Christmas but hadn't bought it yet, so off she ran to Toys R Us. As you can tell, he was beyond thrilled. It was so cute. 

This is the hat my mom gave us to put on the boys at every birthday. 

William had fun with it this year.  

He totally hammed it up. 

His signature funny face. You may notice that he's wearing a different shirt here. I think my mom had to remind me to do the hat thing. Luckily, it was the day before Mikey's birthday, so it still counted as part of William-Fest! 

College reunion!

How has it already been ten (plus) years since we graduated from college?! Danielle and I decided to make the trip back to SU for our reunion, and it was a blast. We stayed at Abbey's house while she and James were in NYC for the ill-fated NYC marathon. It was wonderful to have a home base with plenty of room and all the comforts of home.

On Friday night, we met up with our friend James. We spent a LOT of time with him in college, so I truly enjoyed the chance to catch up and get a glimpse of his life in Austin.

Saturday morning, we went to the cheese-tastic yet cute SU homecoming parade.

Of course I wanted the Tri Delts to win the parade (and the big homecoming award). They had tons of spirit but weren't totally original. 

As was the story for much of my college life, the Zetas won. But they got all into their nerdy theme, and they totally deserved the win. 

We reserved a room in a bar for the Tri Delts in our pledge class.  Eight out of 25 isn't too shabby, considering nowhere near 25 people came to the reunion. It was nice to catch up with everyone before the big reunion.

The former London roommates 

Once again, this could have been college. Ebony in charge and Bob-O performing. It felt right! 

Talk about old school. What a treat to see everyone again.  

First Brown Cody representing, as usual! 

OK this is going to be my lesson to everyone to never use the pop-up flash if you can avoid it. This is the one where I forgot to turn on my other flash.  

Ah, that's better! 

Danielle and Allison reminiscing, I'm sure.  

We kept Allison there as long as we possibly could! We kept trying to distract her mom so she would let her stay longer.  

To be honest, I had way more fun that I thought I would have. I thought our five-year reunion was a little on the awkward side, but maybe that's because not a lot had changed at that point. Now everyone has a lot to talk about (despite the fact that so many people keep in touch through Facebook). I hope Danielle will join me again for our next big reunion!